BOOK CLUB: STREET ART

The writing's on the wall - and in this new tome.

If you find yourself refreshing our NYLON blog 25 times a day in the hopes that we’ve posted another Tag! photo, we’ve found the perfect book for you. Street Art, by Johannes Stahl, is an amazing new graffiti book that begs the question, “Do we ever stop to ask ourselves about the writing on the wall?”

Far from being just another collection of graffiti images, or an ode to the rebellious street culture that founded and fosters graffiti, Street Art examines the long history of an important art form that has long been considered criminal.

From people like Banksy and Kaws becoming some of the highest selling artists of our time, to Shepard Fairey’s iconic “Hope” turning into one of the most recognizable image from the Obama presidential campaign, there can be no doubt that graffiti has permeated modern pop culture in a big way.

Street Art portrays this thriving art form as exactly what it is: A vibrant, passionate medium that is simultaneously shrouded in secrecy and on the pulse of current political and social feeling. It’s the perfect dose of graffiti for those who want to be in the thick of it without having to run from the cops.
SABRINA BACON

$13.25 at amazon.com.



This story was published on June 17, 2009.